S. Korea, US kick off major springtime military drill

SEOUL - The combined forces of South Korea and the United States kicked off major springtime military exercise on Monday without field maneuvers, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said.

The JCS said in a statement that the Combined Command Post Training (CCPT), the annually-held South Korea-US computer-simulated exercise, will run for nine days from Monday in a comprehensive consideration of the combined defense readiness.

The CCPT will not involve file maneuvers as it is computer-simulated and defensive in nature, the JCS noted.

Through the CCPT, the JCS anticipated that the combined forces of South Korea and the United States could improve their joint operational capabilities and strengthen the combined defense readiness further.

The CCPT followed the Crisis Management Staff Training (CMST), the preliminary military drills that were conducted by the combined forces for four days last week to practice the management of possible pre-war emergency situation.